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sire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately.
I confess that neither the structure of languages, nor the
code of governments, nor the politics of various states pos-
sessed attractions for me. It was the secrets of heaven and
earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the out-
ward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and
the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my in-
quiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest
sense, the physical secrets of the world.
Meanwhile Clerval occupied himself, so to speak, with
the moral relations of things. The busy stage of life, the vir-
tues of heroes, and the actions of men were his theme; and
his hope and his dream was to become one among those
whose names are recorded in story as the gallant and ad-
venturous benefactors of our species. The saintly soul of
Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peace-
ful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice,
the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to
bless and animate us. She was the living spirit of love to
soften and attract; I might have become sullen in my study,
through the ardour of my nature, but that she was there
to subdue me to a semblance of her own gentleness. And
Clerval—could aught ill entrench on the noble spirit of
Clerval? Yet he might not have been so perfectly humane, so
thoughtful in his generosity, so full of kindness and tender-
ness amidst his passion for adventurous exploit, had she not
unfolded to him the real loveliness of beneficence and made
the doing good the end and aim of his soaring ambition.
I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollec-